Schumann was possessed of a keen literary mind. His studies at the Leipzig and Heidelberg Universities and his own career as a writer, including an early attempt at a novel, helped to hone his natural insights in this direction. So, when the opportunity arose in 1848 to provide incidental music for Lord Byron's Manfred, he threw himself into the project with a fervor. Although only the wildly popular Manfred Overture has ever entered the repertory (the rest being rather difficult to program), Schumann's Opus 115 score actually includes 15 additional numbers for orchestra, choir, and various solo voices. The overture was first performed in March of 1852 with its composer at the helm, while a complete performance of the Manfred score was given by Franz Liszt in Weimar just three months later.

The Manfred Overture is one of Schumann's finest orchestral creations; it conveys very effectively the urgent despair of Byron's work. Three remarkable chords precede the pained, chromatic tune in the oboe and second violins. A somber texture is provided by the orchestra, here Schumann's frequently ineffective and superfluous doublings seem most appropriate, until the passion can be restrained no longer and a wild rout ensues. A few brief fragments of lyric thought in the major mode occasionally poke through—how effective are such outbursts of hope against so grim and indefatigable a background! The energy is momentarily spent as we near the midpoint of the piece; chorale-like fragments in the brass and isolated woodwind chords receive a terse commentary from the lower strings. As the anguished pursuit continues, it is easy to see the marked influence that Schumann's imitative orchestral procedures had on Tchaikovsky. The underlying E flat tonality is firmly re-established by a long succession of E flat minor chords in the winds, against which an agitated violin figure (with that piquant raised fourth, a prominent feature throughout the work) finally runs out of energy as the initial oboe melody returns.

The remaining 15 pieces are of uneven quality, and none approaches the concentrated expression of the overture. A wide range of textures are represented. No. 1, "Gesang der Geister" (Song of the Ghosts) pits a quiet, unison song (doubled by the solo violin) against an impish triplet-sixteenth note figure in the viola; while No. 4, "Alpenkuhreigen," is just a single, unaccompanied folk-like tune that Schumann doubles, unison, with the English horn. The purely instrumental No. 5, an entr'acte to the second act that lilts forward in a charming triple-meter fashion, is perhaps the most successful of the bunch. No.7, "Hymnus der Geister Ariman's," is majestic, while No. 13, which portrays the "Departure of the Sun," is quiet and spacious. The final number of Manfred, No. 15 (Schluss-Scene/Closing-scene), makes effective use of dense, chromatic counterpoint.

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